In his Arms
by sarahsrr
Summary: Repost of the first part of a two part tag to the season 7 episode Obsession


In his Arms

Part 1

This a tag from my very favorite NCIS episode from season 7. Was posted years ago. Now since part 2 is nearly done enjoy!

Gibbs and the others had left to head back to NCIS to allow Tony to accompany Dana Hutton for the hospital to spend her last few hours with her. Tony was still trying to comprehend what had drawn her to him. The more he had thought about it the more he realized how much they were alike. Dana had sacrificed everything for her career and was destined to spend her life alone. And now she only had a few hours left to live her life. Not realizing that she and her brother's involvement in investigating the KGB had cost both of them their lives.

Dana and her brother were unknowingly injected with ricin poison and were destined to die. Even though he would never admit to it he had hoped that there would be a chance for Dana and him to become friends and maybe more than that. Now he would never know. After the whole fiasco with Jeanne he had stopped dating so he wouldn't have to go through the heartache of loosing losing the woman he had fallen in love with again.

And then he'd gone out with Brenda Bitner because of a moment of weakness. And when she had posted that she and Tony were in a committed relationship he felt like he was being trapped. He knew that he shouldn't have gone out with her but Ziva and McGee's badgering for the last week made him give up and finally decided to ask her out on a date. It was a fiasco from the start. She spent the whole dinner asking whether he thought there was a connection between the two of them.

He was tempted to text Abby to call with an emergency to get him out of the awful date. But he didn't and decided to beg out and say he had a very early morning. Then he had made the mistake of going back to her apartment and falling asleep on her couch. He had meant to sneak out after she had fallen asleep but the next thing he know it was seven in the morning. He grabbed his shoes and suit jacket and quickly slipped out and back to his place.

And then he learned that the woman was spreading rumors. He was angry and hurt at the same time. He finally snapped at Ziva and McGee for teasing him. Gibbs however walked in and put an end to it all. Tony had hidden his true feelings through jokes and his usual sarcasm so the others couldn't see how badly he was hurting.

Tony had planned to return to NCIS with the team but at the last minute she asked him to accompany her to the hospital. He was going to refuse but the look of terror in her eyes made him want to stay with her so she wouldn't have to die alone. Tony remembered coming home from school after what was a terrible day to learn his mother had overdosed on her sleeping pills and died alone.

He was angry at himself for not kissing her goodbye in the morning before he left for school. Little did he know that he would never see his mother again. Marisol tried to make up for it but it was never the same. He had spent the evening listening to his parents fighting and the sound of a drunken argument. He slipped out his window and ran to the maid's house to spend the night safely. Marisol as usual prepared a fantastic breakfast and drove him to school before starting work. She was not going to let that happen to Dana because no one deserved to die alone. He quickly slipped out of the bookstore to talk to Gibbs

He walked outside blinking at the bright sunlight while looking for his lead agent. He walked halfway down the block to see Gibbs talking on the phone alone. To his surprise his Boss noticed him and waved for him to come down and talk to him. He hurried down the street to where Gibbs was waiting for him.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs asked "I know you were getting ready to head back but I need you to accompany Dana Hutton to Bethesda. She asked me if you would go with her. Dane told me that she trusts you and feels safe with you around. I've already had Ducky contact Bethesda and they are expecting you right away. And Tony, no one knows it is Dana Hutton coming in except for the doctor and the nurse assigned to her."

The lead agent took a step back to regard his senior field agent for several moments before talking again. He knew this whole case had taken a considerable toll emotionally. Normally Gibbs would reprimand his agents for letting a case or victim cloud their judgment. He decided to give his senior agent some time to clear his mind and have a chance to deal with everything before he would say anything. When he did he would get on his case and threaten to head slap him for yet again breaking rule number ten. But then he would give him a gentle smack and a smile then a pat on the shoulder to show that he truly understood what the younger agent was going through.. Personally he was seriously considering eliminating Rule number ten. That was the rule that had given him the most trouble in the past. And now it was causing so much trouble for his younger agent. He'd have to think about it though because the rule had helped him in the past.

"Boss" A voice said that finally broke through his thoughts "I promised Dana that I would be the one who would take her to the hospital and stay with her to the end. She seemed so scared that I just couldn't say no to her. I don't want her to be alone the way that Jenny was when she died. Or like my mother was. Besides, this is something that I really need to do for myself. She is terrified and I need to be the one to help her."

The lead agent was taken aback by what Tony had just confessed to him. He knew that Tony had felt guilty about Jenny's death but knew little about how his mother had died. He decided that this is why Tony had always gotten so emotionally involved in cases like this. So another innocent victim and their family wouldn't have to suffer the way his mother and his family had. He was about to suggest that they go back inside so that Dana could be taken to the hospital when McGee came running toward them

"Tony, Boss!" McGee exclaimed breathlessly "Dana Hutton just collapsed. She said that she was having trouble breathing and fell to the ground. She says that she is fine now but I called for an ambulance anyway. Tony I think you need to get her to the hospital right away."

"Boss" Tony started to say but Gibbs immediately interrupted him.

"Go DiNozzo" Gibbs said as they hurried back inside the bookstore.

They hurried inside to see the young reporter slumped over while sitting in a chair. She was fighting to breathe and Tony noticed the black dots on her eyes. He immediately ran over to side and knelt down beside her.

"Dana" Tony said quietly "We need to get you to a hospital. Agent McGee has already called for an ambulance. It should be here soon."

"No ambulance" Dana whispered as she was gasping for air "I need you to take me. I won't go in an ambulance."

Tony looked sadly into the terrified eyes of the woman watching him desperate for help. He was tempted to try and take her himself but knew she was better off riding in an ambulance. At least they could make her more comfortable than he could in NCIS sedan.

"I can't do that" Tony answered as he sadly looked into the eyes of his boss.

The look of strength and support he got in return gave him the strength to insist that his decision was right. He again turned to the terrified woman and saw that she was starting to fade quickly. He knew that he would not want to die in a place like this and quickly turned to McGee.

"Damn it McGee" Tony snapped "What is the ETA on the ambulance. They need to hurry because she is dying and I won't let it happen here."

"Tony" McGee answered as he ran outside to look for the ambulance "The ambulance should be here any minute."

Just as he came back inside they all heard the ambulance pulling up in front of the building. The paramedics hurried inside to see the young woman barely conscious and struggling to breathe. The paramedics pulled Tony away so they could get to Dana.

"What happened?" One of the paramedics asked.

"We believe that she was poisoned with ricin close to three days ago." Tony answered as he watched the paramedics give her oxygen and started to lower her onto a stretcher.

"Our Medical Examiner has already contacted Bethesda and they are expecting her." Tony informed the two paramedics.

"We need to get her there immediately" The same paramedic replied "I didn't get your name."

"Agent Tony DiNozzo" Tony quickly replied as he approached her side again.

"Agent DiNozzo" the paramedic answered again. "She isn't doing well but I think that we can get her to the hospital in time. Are there any relatives that need to be notified?"

"No there aren't" Tony answered as he turned to follow them out "I did promise Dana that I would go with her so she wouldn't have to be there alone."

Tony turned to Gibbs who answered his question before he could even answer him.

"Tony" Gibbs said as he took charge of his agents again "You follow the paramedics to the hospital. And we'll follow up here. Keep in contact with me and I'll try and come by the hospital later."

Tony felt the same hand on his shoulder and smiled as he took the keys to one of the sedans. The team watched as the Senior Agent followed the ambulance to Bethesda before getting back to work.

Tony followed the ambulance on the now very familiar drive to Bethesda. He hoped that Dana would survive long enough to make it to the hospital. He hoped that he would be there to hold her hand and comfort her till the end. Even if it was only for a few moments. Then no one could say that she had to die alone.

After what seemed like more than an hour they pulled up to the emergency room. He quickly pulled the sedan into a parking spot and ran to be at Dana's side as she was taken out of the ambulance and rushed into the all too familiar emergency room. The emergency room doctor started to ask him to leave until Tony identified himself as a federal agent. Once the doctor saw that he was the agent that Doctor Mallard said to be expecting he came over and invited him to wait inside until he had a chance to examine her. Tony sat there watching as the doctor and nurses examined her. Without being able to actually see what was going on he knew that she was dying and that it wouldn't be much longer until her end came. Tony could hear trying to fight for air that didn't seem to ever want to come. It only took the doctor a few minutes to finish examining her. He could hear the doctor talking softly then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Agent DiNozzo" Doctor Collins said "Ms. Hutton is asking for you. Her lungs are full of fluid and it's causing her to suffocate. Her breathing when she can has become extremely labored. She is conscious right now but had been going in and out of consciousness. I can only make a guess but I would say that she has a half hour or less to live. We could try and drain the fluid to help make her more comfortable but she is too weak to make it through the procedure. I suggest that you get to her side before she starts to panic again."

"Thank you" Tony answered as he followed the doctor to her bed. "Is she suffering at all?"

Tony was almost afraid to see her. He didn't want to see her suffering and in pain. He waited for the doctor to answer before continuing into her room.

"I really can't say right now" The doctor replied "We have given her something for the pain. She appears to be comfortable though."

"Thank you." Tony answered as he slipped quietly into her room.

He noticed that Dana was awake though it looked like she was struggling to stay that way. Tony sat down in a chair next to her. He noticed that she was looking up at him and was whispering something that he couldn't hear. He leaned over and could barely make out what she was trying to say.

"Just make sure that my brother gets a proper burial." Dana whispered "He was all I had and now we are both gone."

"Don't worry." Tony answered while trying to fight away the tears "I'll make sure that he gets the burial he deserves. But you need to rest so just close your eyes. I won't go anywhere."

Dana immediately fell asleep. It happened so quickly that that Tony thought she was gone already. But the slow irregular beep of one of the machines said that she was still breathing. Tony carefully lifted her head up so he could sit on the edge of the back and put her head in his lap.

He fell asleep to the sounds of the machines and her soft breathing. All of the sudden he heard the beeping slow down and the breathing coming out less and less. Tony pressed the button to call for the doctor. He grabbed her hand and smoothed her hair down as she gasped for her last breath and then finally nothing. The doctor came running in but knew from the face of the agent that she was gone.


End file.
